Includes bibliographical references and index.

Years of religious studies in China / Guanghu He -- History as a factor in the social scientific study of Chinese religion / J. Gordon Melton -- Explanations of international differences in religion that may apply to China / V.A. Daniel Olson -- The dilemma of pursuing Chinese religious studies within the framework of Western religious theories / Lizhu Fan -- Religion in China : some introductory notes for the intrepid western scholar / Eileen Barker -- Local ritual traditions of southeast China : a challenge to definitions of religion and theories of ritual / Kenneth Dean -- Contemporary Chinese beliefs and spiritual pursuits / Victor Yuan -- Exploring the relationship between religion and ethnicity in China / Qimin He -- From grassroots association to civil society organization : a case study of the Hebei Province Dragon Tablet Fair / Gao Bingzhong and Ma Qiang -- On the problem of developing a mechanism for the participation of religion in the social services sector / Liu Peng -- Religion and environmentalism in Chinese societies / Graeme Lang and Yunfeng Lu -- Secular state and religious society in mainland China and Taiwan / Richard Madsen.

Print version record.

The revival of religious belief and practice in China over the past thirty years, after decades of severe repression, has attracted much attention by scholars. Social scientific studies of religion by mainland Chinese scholars has also increased in recent years, using theories and methods developed mainly outside China. Increasingly, mainland scholars are also debating whether theories and concepts developed in western societies are fully appropriate for the study of religion in Chinese societies. This volume presents a selection of papers by sociologists, anthropologists, and historians of re.